Mar
05
nameberry.com
The minute I saw that the leading character in the new sitcom “Life Unexpected” was a young girl named Lux, a bell went off. Does this mean that there will be a slew of baby Luxes (Luxi?)? Will Lux be the new Lexi? Or won’t it have any effect at all in this era of diminished network TV viewing?
We certainly know that some TV characters’ names of the past have had an impact, from Samantha on “Bewitched” to Alexis on “Dynasty” to Brandon and Dylan on the old “Beverly Hill 90210″ to Xander on “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” to Aidan on “Sex and the City” right up to the female Addison on “Grey’s Anatomy.”
So what about the current line-up? Though some...
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Mar
05
By Debra Legg, debralegg.com
When we last left Big Guy, his big mouth was causing problems at school on a daily basis. It’s a seasonal issue for him that’s going to crop up just as sure as the teacher and the seasons change every fall. Being aware of a pattern and being able to break it are two different matters, though.
Last Tuesday Big Guy came home with the news: He’d landed on yellow, which is a step up from OK behavior on his school’s color scale. If he could do that for a solid week, he’d get to eat lunch with his teacher.
Back in November, I wouldn’t have bet on that one. While he had many good days, the roll usually was interrupted by a day on blue or purple — both of which are below...
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Mar
04
By Jennifer Rothacker, McClatchy-Tribune
Choosing a pediatrician can be tricky. But there’s plenty of advice on the topic. Here’s what some pediatricians and parents suggest you look for when on the doctor hunt:
- Check a doctor’s credentials and disciplinary actions at your state medical board. The pediatrician should be board certified by the American Board of Pediatrics.
- Ask fellow parents for their suggestions. “It’s not foolproof,” said John Moses, a practicing pediatrician and associate professor of pediatrics at Duke University Medical Center, but good reputations follow good doctors.
- Ask your obstetrician and the delivery nurses at the hospital for their advice. They work with pediatricians every...
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Mar
04
By Michael Deeds, Idaho Statesman
Bogus Basin ski school director Jamie Zolber has seen it all before — this past Monday, actually.
The wind was blowing like mad. A family was up on the mountain with a child who was 2, maybe 2-½ years old, on skis.
“The kid was just wailing, crying,” Zolber says. “And they were just dragging him around the flats. … The kid was just not having any of it. They were forcing him.”
“I was (thinking), like, take him inside,” Zolber says. “Make sure he has a good day.”
Even parents with the best intentions sometimes struggle when introducing winter sports to young children.
We’ve all marveled at the impossibly tiny tot flying down a run or hitting...
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Mar
03
By Genevieve Thiers, Chicago Tribune
Ever been confused about what to pay your babysitter or nanny? Join the club. Almost everyone out there has a differing view on what to pay, especially in this uncertain economic time period. Here’s a breakdown of the criteria that go into payment, so that next time, you’re prepared.
Sitter rates can be determined based on five differing criteria:
The age of your babysitter
The distance of your sitter to a metro area
The number of kids you have (and the closeness of their age)
The time period and type of job
Sitter experience
To start with, an average rate that a college sitter receives in a major metro area in the United States is $11-$13 an hour. And the number of kids...
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Mar
03
By Heidi Stevens, Chicago Tribune
If you’re still plagued by show-up-for-the-final-and-realize-you’ve-never-been-to-class nightmares, you know schoolwork anxiety is no small matter. So how do you help your kids cope before stress tanks their confidence and their grades? Here are five steps to help strike the right balance and keep schoolwork from overwhelming your child.
Talk to the teachers. “Establish a dialogue on homework policies from the beginning, including how involved you’re expected to be,” suggests Susan Kane, editor-in-chief of Parenting: School Years magazine.
Make sure you understand his or her definition of homework.
“Typically the purpose is to practice what is already known, with the theory that...
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Mar
02
By Nicole, DC Metro Moms Blog
Well, we all made it through … the DC Snowpocalypse of 2010 …
We even made it on Wikipedia!!!!!
Luckily, temperatures are warming, snow is melting, and only rain is on its way lovely, hmm.
I’m sure we’ve all learned something in the last couple of weeks …
As for me? I’ve learned a lot.
How to end poverty? No.
A cure for cancer? No.
I’m talkin’ vital stuff here … like what to keep in your home AT ALL TIMES …
The first is pretty obvious: WINE.
Always have a substantial stockpile of wine. Keep it in your basement, the wine will stay at a good temperature- it’s your own personal wine cellar!
And let’s not...
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Mar
02
By Pamela W., NYC Moms Blog
I had the pleasure (and I do mean pleasure) of attending a varsity basketball game at my kids’ school recently. I haven’t attended a high school sporting event since I was in high school myself so many years ago. I loved high school and thrived in the social milieu of having my clique of friends, boyfriend and generally happy social life.
That being said, I do remember kids in high school being pretty mean to one another at times, making outsiders feel uncomfortable and certainly do not recall EVER inviting my parents to join me for a game. As a matter of fact, I would not have been caught dead having my parents anywhere near me in public during my high school years and distinctly remember walking as far away from them as...
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Mar
01
nameberry.com
This year in celebration of Black History Month we turn for naming inspiration to the cultural heroines of the Harlem Renaissance. These women — novelists, poets, playwrights, painters, sculptors and musicians all played significant roles in the movement that flourished from the end of World War I through the mid-1930s, during which a group of writers and other artists fostered an intellectual blossoming that was instrumental in forging a new black cultural identity.
The talented women listed below, some better known than others, would all provide great namesakes and role models for any child.
A’LELIA Walker — an African-American businesswoman who was an important patron of the artists of the Harlem Renaissance in the...
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Mar
01
By Aisha Sultan, St. Louis Post-Dispatch
Freud would have a field day in the video aisles at Pure Pleasure Adult Megacenters.
Mommy issues are making it in a most unexpected way, and the proof is in the porn. There is a booming genre of videos devoted to eroticizing mothers.
But why? What’s driving the surging interest in yummy mummies (as they quaintly refer to them across the pond)?
In fact, there’s a perfect storm of factors encouraging this fantasy: a bad economy in which men have been particularly bruised and a generation of man-boys stuck in arrested adolescence.
If young men are feeling particularly hapless, helpless and jobless in this moment, a soccer mom fantasy may be comforting or empowering. Does watching a mother, an...
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